


when you said forever, did you mean this?

by neko11lover



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: F/M, Retirement, fall from grace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-14
Updated: 2013-06-14
Packaged: 2017-12-14 22:13:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/841952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neko11lover/pseuds/neko11lover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is what cheerleaders do, and Tomoka knows that she is his best.</p>
            </blockquote>





	when you said forever, did you mean this?

**Author's Note:**

> Written for IU's Secret Valentine 2013 last February, with this prompt: [A Day Away - Take Me For Granted](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRcDcIxLMTc); (If it's not too much, OP, please, please make it requited. :( I will love you forever.).

x  
  
she watches her hero fall from grace through a television screen, but she feels like she's there, watching it all happen, breathing the same heavy air, because she can feel the frustration, the tension, the hot stream of tears running down her cheeks while he pulls down his cap after he shakes his opponent's hand. she  _thinks_  he's crying, she can feel it, because she knows - _they both know_  - that this is the end.  
  
she watches until the end; she watches while the camera pans around before zooming back to him, and she sees it, a trickle of  _something_  down  _his_  cheek. it could've been sweat.   
  
it could've been.

  
x  
  
everything goes on as it did before. the world doesn't stop spinning - not for her, not for him, not for anyone else. this thing happened all the time: young prodigies growing too weary, piling defeat over defeat, and other people growing stronger than they are. they all had to grow up, and for echizen ryoma, tomoka realizes, this is his time.  
  
she continues living, but there is something in her that has died with his loss, and is buried without a funeral when he announces his expected early retirement from tennis. people buzz with excitement, with pressing questions, with comparisons between his father and him.  
  
this happens all the time, she assures herself. all the time.  
  
(she wishes she was there, while she watches, but she isn't, so she settles for half-hearted cheering under her breath)

  
x  
  
when he comes back, she's there. she doesn't think twice about it, but she does call for reinforcement. she gathers the old gang together to welcome him back. her, and his old friends (because, in her heart she knows, she is something more). they prepare a small party which would wait for him after he's picked up from the airport. tomoka prepares a small gift.  
  
the reunion is emotional, and she isn't surprised to find herself pushed to the side. she's grown up now, so she pretends that this is okay. she talks to the others like her who find themselves out of his primary circle, and she keeps the activity going by the sidelines, making sure that everyone's having fun, because that's what cheerleaders do.   
  
and she knows in her heart that she's his best.

  
  
x  
  
at the end of the day, she feels accomplished: it was a success.  
  
and--  
  
  
  
  
("Osakada."  
  
Tomoka looked up from her sitting position, and her eyes widen. She recovered quickly, and she put on a grin. She jumped up and clapped her hands together.   
  
"Ryoma-sama!" she exclaimed. "It was fun, ne? Ne?"  
  
To which he smirked a little, and he tipped his cap to her. "I received your letters."  
  
Tomoka nodded. Her energy subsided into something a little calmer. This time, the grin softens into a gentle smile.  
  
"I'm proud of you," she told him. "I always have been."  
  
He smiled at that, and offered her his hand.  
  
"Thank you.")

 

**Fin.**


End file.
